Firearm cartridge reloading devices and methods

ABSTRACT

Firearm cartridge loading and reloading dies, such as a die having a metallic body with a cavity extending through the body and a sleeve inserted in the cavity. The sleeve is configured to receive a firearm cartridge and reconfigure the cartridge for loading or reloading. The sleeve can be metal, non-metallic ceramic, and/or.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 60,776,577, filed Feb. 24, 2006, which is incorporatedherein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure is directed to devices and methods for loadingand/or reloading firearm cartridges.

BACKGROUND

Many shooting enthusiasts prefer to load or reload their own firearmcartridges with a reloading press. Although shooters often reloadcartridges simply as a hobby, shooters are also able to save money andfine tune the accuracy and specific loads of their cartridges byreloading themselves. For example, shooters can adjust the weight of theload and bullet in the cartridge for specific applications, such asusing a lighter load for practice or target shooting. Conventionalreloading presses accept a reloading die for reconfiguring or reshapingthe cartridge case before or after firing. Common reloading dies includefull-length, neck, and seating dies. Typical cartridge cases, such asstraight wall or bottleneck cartridges, are formed of malleable brassand are forcibly inserted into a bore in a resizing die. Forciblyinserting the cartridge in the die causes the brass to deform and assumethe dimensions of the die's central bore. The process resizes the firedcartridge case to desired dimensions in preparation for inserting a newprimer, new propellant, and a new bullet.

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of a conventional reloading die assembly100. The assembly 100 includes a die 110 and a cap assembly 150. The die110 includes a body 112 having an internal bore (not shown). The body112 includes a plurality of external threads 114 and a lock nut 112disposed on the threads 114. The die 112 can be secured to a press (notshown) by mating the external threads 114 to internal threads of thepress and tightening the lock nut 112 to secure the die 112 to thepress. The die 110 also includes an opening 118 at the external threadedportion of the die that is configured to receive the cartridge forshaping and reloading. The cap 150 includes a cylindrical top portion152 having a plurality of external threads 154 and a second lock nut 156disposed on the threads 154. The cap assembly 150 is threaded into thebore of the die 110 by mating the threads 154 with internal threads (notshown) of the bore, and the lock nut 156 secures the top portion 152 inplace.

For durability and correct shaping of the cartridges, conventional diessuch as the die 100 illustrated in FIG. 1, are typically constructed ofsteel and have steel or other metallic inner bore surfaces to contactand resize the cartridges. These metallic inner surfaces aremanufactured on lathes, which can be time consuming for manufacturersusing manual lathes and cost prohibitive for manufacturers to use anautomated lathe. Moreover, the machining process creates a large amountof scrap relative to the finished product. Disposing of or recycling thescrap is also time consuming and expensive. In addition, whenreconfiguring the cartridges in the die, the metal-to-metal contact ofthe die to the cartridge requires lubrication to prevent the cartridgefrom sticking in the die following the resizing. Lubricating thecartridges creates additional time and expense in the reloading process.For example, a shooter must lubricate the cartridges before resizing andremove the lubricant after resizing before the cartridge is reloadedwith powder. In addition, if the lubricant is not adequately removedbefore firing the cartridge, the lubricant can foul the chamber of afirearm thereby creating a hazardous firing condition. Accordingly, aneed exists to improve reloading devices and methods.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of a reloading firearm die in accordancewith the prior art.

FIGS. 2-6 are schematic cross-sectional side views of reloading dies inaccordance with embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating a method of manufacturing areloading die in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A. Overview

The following disclosure describes several embodiments of firearmcartridge loading and reloading dies. For the purposes of thisdisclosure, reloading dies include, but are not limited to, full-length,neck, and seating dies, capable of configuring straight wall,bottleneck, belted, beltless or other cartridges. In addition, reloadingdies may reconfigure used firearm cartridges as well as new firearmcartridges. One embodiment of a cartridge reloading die is directed to adie including a housing having a cavity and a sleeve coupled to thehousing in the cavity. The housing is composed of a first material; andthe sleeve is composed of a second material. The sleeve includes a firstinternal portion having a first diameter and a second internal portionhaving a second diameter smaller than the first diameter.

In another embodiment, a die for reloading a firearm cartridge includesa body composed of a first material and having a cavity extendingthrough the body. The die also includes an insert fixedly connected tothe cavity of the body. The insert is composed of a second materialdifferent from the first material and the insert includes a bore that isconfigured to at least partially receive a cartridge for shaping atleast a portion of the cartridge. The bore has a first diameter and asecond diameter smaller than the first diameter.

In yet another embodiment, a die for reloading a firearm cartridgeincludes a body having an interior bore. The bore includes a firstportion having a first diameter and a second portion having a seconddiameter greater than the first diameter, wherein the second portion iscoated with a ceramic material and configured to at least partiallyreceive a cartridge.

In another embodiment, a cartridge reloading die includes a bodycomposed of a first exterior metallic portion, a second interiornon-metallic portion, and a third interior portion. The die alsoincludes a cavity in the body. The second portion of the body defines abore portion of the cavity configured for at least partially shaping acartridge, and the third interior portion defines an engaging portion ofthe cavity configured for engaging a cap member.

Another embodiment is directed to a method of manufacturing a firearmcartridge reloading die. The method includes forming a bore in a diebody and positioning a sleeve member in the bore. The sleeve member hasa first diameter and a second diameter less than the first diameter. Thecavity is configured to releasably contact a cartridge at leastpartially inserted into the cavity for shaping at least a portion of thecartridge.

Specific details of several embodiments of the invention are describedbelow with reference to firearm cartridge reloading dies; howeverseveral details describing well-known structures or processes oftenassociated with reloading dies are not set forth in the followingdescription for purposes of brevity and clarity. Also, several otherembodiments of the invention can have different configurations,components, or procedures than those described in this section. A personof ordinary skill in the art, therefore, will understand that theinvention may have other embodiments with additional elements, or theinvention may have other embodiments without several of the elementsshown and described below with reference to FIGS. 1-6.

Where the context permits, singular or plural terms may also include theplural or singular term, respectively. Moreover, unless the word “or” isexpressly limited to mean only a single item exclusive from other itemsin reference to a list of at least two items, then the use of “or” insuch a list is to be interpreted as including (a) any single item in thelist, (b) all of the items in the list, or (c) any combination of theitems in the list. Additionally, the term “comprising” is usedthroughout to mean including at least the recited feature(s) such thatany greater number of the same features and/or other types of featuresand components are not precluded.

B. Embodiments of Firearm Cartridge Reloading Dies

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross sectional view of a cartridge reloading die200 in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. One skilled inthe art will appreciate that the die 200 may be a full length die, neckdie, seating die or other type of die capable of resizing differenttypes of firearm cartridges. The die includes a housing or body 214having a plurality of external threads 226 and a bore or cavity 216. Thebody 214 is made of an alloy steel or similar metal suitable forprecision machining. The external threads 226 mate with internal threadsof a press (not shown), and a lock nut (not shown) disposed on theexternal threads 226 secures the die 200 to the press. The cavity 216extends through the body 214 of the die 200 and through a bushing orsleeve portion 218, and is configured to receive a firearm cartridgeinserted into a lower portion 210 of the die 200. One skilled in the artwill appreciate that the cavity 216 can be configured to receivedifferent types of cartridges, such as straight wall, bottleneck,belted, beltless, or other types of cartridges for example. The die 200also includes an upper portion 260 having a first diameter less than asecond diameter of the lower portion 210. In some embodiments, the body214 has a single diameter that extends through the length of the die.The sleeve 218 extends through the body 214 and also includes aplurality of internal threads 234 on an upper section 224 of the sleeve218. The inner threads 234 are configured to receive a cap assembly (notshown) as is conventional in the art for reloading cartridges. Thesleeve 218 can also include a transition surface 222 between the upperportion 260 and the lower portion 210 of the die 200.

The sleeve 218 is coupled to the body 214 and forms a contact surface220 for contacting and resizing cartridges inserted into the die 200. Inthe embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2, the sleeve 218 is composed of anon-metallic material. For example, the sleeve 218 may be composed of asynthetic or ceramic material in specific embodiments. Forming thesleeve 218 of a non-metallic material provides many advantages overconventional cartridge reloading dies. By inserting a non-metallicsleeve 218 or bushing into the body 214 of the die 200, significantportions of the die body 214 can be molded or formed with out machining.For example, the sleeve 218 can be formed by a molding manufacturingprocess. As a result, decreasing the machining process of the die 200 ona lathe can significantly reduce the cost and waste associated withmanufacturing the die 200. Additionally, the non-metallic sleeve 218 andnon-metallic contact surface 220 are configured to reshape or resize thecartridge and release the cartridge from the cavity 216 such that thecartridge does not stick in the cavity 216. More specifically, lubricantis not required to prevent the cartridge from sticking to thenon-metallic sleeve 218 following resizing of the cartridge. Forexample, a ceramic or synthetic sleeve 218 and contact surface 220resizing a metal cartridge will not cause the cartridge to stick in thesleeve 218. Eliminating the need to lubricate the cartridge reduces thetime and expense of the reloading process by eliminating the steps ofapplying the lubricant before resizing the cartridge and removing thelubricant after resizing the cartridge. Moreover, eliminating thelubricant also eliminates the danger of leaving residual lubricant onthe cartridge after resizing, which can corrupt the load and also foulthe firearm chamber creating a hazardous firing condition.

In certain embodiments the sleeve 218 is removably attached to the body214 of the die 200. A removable sleeve 218 provides the additionalflexibility of replacing the contact surface 220 of the die 200 as thecontact surface 220 becomes worn over time or is damaged, without havingto replace the entire die 200. Replacing only the sleeve portion 218 ofthe die 200 saves the time and expense of replacing the whole die unit200. In addition, reinserting the sleeve 218 can be cheaper thanremanufacturing the entire die 200. For example, in one embodiment thesleeve 218 is formed by molding, which can be significantly cheaper thanmanufacturing the bore or cavity 216 of the die 200 on a lathe. Inaddition, in some embodiments, removing the sleeve 218 can facilitateremoving a cartridge from the die 218 after the cartridge has beenreconfigured.

FIGS. 3-6 are schematic cross-sectional views of a cartridge reloadingdie 200 in accordance with other embodiments of the invention. Likereference characters refer to like components in FIGS. 3-6 and FIG. 2,and thus the description of such components will not be repeated withreference to FIG. 3-6. Referring specifically to FIG. 3, the die 300 isgenerally similar to the die 200 described above with reference to FIG.2. The illustrated die 300, however, includes a body 314 that is formedfrom a non-metallic material. For example, the body 314 of the die 300can be a synthetic or ceramic material, rather than a conventional steelbody. The non-metallic die 300 can provide similar performancecharacteristics as the die 200 shown in FIG. 2, while also reducing thetime and cost of manufacturing the die 300. Specifically, the die 300can be formed using manufacturing processes other than those requiredfor machining the steel die 200. For example, in certain embodiments theentire body 314 of the die 300 can be formed by a molding process. Amolding process at least partially reduces the scrap material producedin manufacturing dies described above and accordingly reduces the timeand cost of disposing of or recycling the scrap material. In addition,the contact surface 220 of the non-metallic body 314 does not require alubricant to release a cartridge from the cavity 216 followingreconfiguration of the cartridge.

FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a cartridge reloading die400 in accordance with another embodiment of the invention. Thedifference between the die 200 shown in FIG. 2 and the die 400 shown inFIG. 4 is that the sleeve 418 does not extend all the way through thebody 414. It will be appreciated that the sleeve and body configurationof FIG. 4 can be incorporated with the other embodiments described inthis disclosure. Another difference illustrated in FIG. 4 is that thedie 400 has a non-metallic body 414 and metallic sleeve 418. Forexample, the body 414 is formed of a ceramic or synthetic material andthe sleeve 418 is formed of a steel alloy. The configuration of thenon-metallic body 414 and metallic sleeve 418 provides the benefit ofmaintaining high tolerances of the contact surface 220 in the cavity 216formed of the metallic sleeve 418, while still allowing a significantportion of the die 400 to be formed from less expensive and timeconsuming manufacturing processes, such as molding for example. Inaddition, if the body 414 of the die 400 becomes worn or damaged, thesleeve 418 can be removed from the body 414 and a new body 414 can beattached to the sleeve 418.

FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a cartridge reloading die500 in accordance with another embodiment of the invention. Thedifference between the die 200 shown in FIG. 2 and the die 500 shown inFIG. 5 is that the die 500 is formed of a metallic body 214 having anon-metallic plating or coating 540 on the contact surface 220 of thecavity 216 in the body 214. In certain embodiments the non-metalliccoating 540 is a ceramic or synthetic coating having similar performancecharacteristics to the sleeve 218 described above. For example, thecoating 540 eliminates the need for applying a lubricant to a cartridgeinserted into the die 500, which in turn reduces the number of steps inresizing or reconfiguring the cartridge. Moreover, the coating 540 canbe replated or reapplied if the coating becomes worn or damaged orotherwise incapable of holding the required tolerances for reconfiguringcartridges, thus reducing the expense of replacing the entire die 500.

FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a cartridge reloading die600 in accordance with another embodiment of the invention. Thedifference between the die 200 shown in FIG. 2 and the die 600 shown inFIG. 6 is that the body 614 of the die 600 is formed of a plurality oflayers. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, the body 614 comprises afirst layer 670, a second layer 674 and a third layer 678. In certainembodiments, the first layer 670 is metallic, the second layer 674 isnon-metallic, and the third layer 678 is metallic. For example, thefirst and third layers 670 and 678 can be steel, and the second layer674 can be a synthetic or ceramic material. The layers of the body 614are configured such that the surface of the non-metallic second layer674 is the contact surface 220 for receiving and reshaping cartridges.Accordingly, the non-metallic contact surface 220 can have similarperformance characteristics and benefits of the non-metallic portions orcontact surfaces of the die as described above. In another embodimentillustrated in FIG. 6, the body 614 comprises two layers rather thanthree layers. For example, the body 614 includes a metallic outer layer688 and a non-metallic inner layer 684 extending the full-length of thedie 600. The inner layer 684 also forms the contact surface 628 forreceiving and resizing cartridges inserted into the cavity 216, and havesimilar performance characteristics and benefits of the non-metallicportions or contact surfaces described above.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating a process 700 that can be used formanufacturing the cartridge reloading die 200 described above. Theprocess 700 can include forming a bore in a die body at a block 710. Incertain embodiments the bore can be metallic and can be formed in amolding or casing process. At a block 720 a sleeve member is positionedin the bore. The sleeve member can have a first and a second diameter,the second diameter being less than the first diameter. The sleevemember can be configured to releasably contact a cartridge that is atleast partially inserted into the cavity for shaping or reconfiguring atleast a portion of the cartridge. In certain embodiments, the sleevemember can be non-metallic, such as a ceramic or synthetic material, andcan be formed in a molding or casting process.

From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that specific embodiments ofthe invention have been described herein for purposes of illustration,but that various modifications may be made without deviating from theinvention. Furthermore, aspects of the invention described in thecontext of particular embodiments may be combined or eliminated in otherembodiments. Further, while advantages associated with certainembodiments of the invention have been described in the context of thoseembodiments, other embodiments may also exhibit such advantages, and notall embodiments need necessarily exhibit such advantages to fall withinthe scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not limited,except as by the appended claims.

1. A cartridge reloading die, the die comprising: a housing having acavity, wherein the housing is composed of a first material; and asleeve coupled to the housing in the cavity, wherein the sleeve iscomposed of a second material and includes a first internal portionhaving a first diameter and a second internal portion having a seconddiameter smaller than the first diameter.
 2. The die of claim 1 whereinthe sleeve further comprises a transition portion between the first andsecond internal portions having a generally tapering diameter betweenthe first and second diameters.
 3. The die of claim 1 wherein the secondmaterial is non-metallic.
 4. The die of claim 3 wherein the firstmaterial comprises a synthetic material.
 5. The die of claim 3 whereinthe non-metallic material comprises a ceramic material.
 6. The die ofclaim 1 wherein the first material is metallic.
 7. The die of claim 1wherein the housing and the sleeve are integral components of the die.8. The die of claim 7 wherein the first and second materials arenon-metallic.
 9. The die of claim 1 wherein the sleeve is removable fromthe housing.
 10. The die of claim 1 wherein the sleeve comprises asingle piece.
 11. The die of claim 1 wherein at least a portion of thecavity is threaded and at least an exterior portion of the housing isthreaded.
 12. A die for reloading a firearm cartridge, the diecomprising: a body composed of a first material, the body having acavity extending through the body; and an insert fixedly connected tothe cavity of the body, wherein the insert is composed of a secondmaterial different from the first material and includes a bore that isconfigured to at least partially receive a cartridge for shaping atleast a portion of the cartridge, wherein the bore has a first diameterand a second diameter smaller than the first diameter.
 13. The die ofclaim 12 wherein the first material is metallic and the second materialis non-metallic.
 14. The die of claim 13 wherein the second materialcomprises ceramic.
 15. The die of claim 13 wherein the second materialcomprises a synthetic material.
 16. The die of claim 12 wherein the boreis coated with a ceramic material.
 17. The die of claim 12 wherein thebore is configured for removing the cartridge after shaping at least aportion of the cartridge.
 18. The die of claim 17 wherein the bore isconfigured for removing the cartridge without a lubricant.
 19. A die forreloading a firearm cartridge, the die comprising a body having aninterior bore, wherein the bore includes a first portion having a firstdiameter and a second portion having a second diameter greater than thefirst diameter, wherein the second portion is coated with a ceramicmaterial and configured to at least partially receive a cartridge.
 20. Acartridge reloading die, the die comprising: a body composed of a firstexterior metallic portion, a second interior non-metallic portion, and athird interior portion; and a cavity in the body, wherein the secondportion defines a bore portion of the cavity configured for at leastpartially shaping a cartridge, and the third interior portion defines anengaging portion of the cavity configured for engaging a cap member. 21.The die of claim 19 wherein the third interior portion is metallic. 22.A method of manufacturing a firearm cartridge reloading die, the methodcomprising: forming a bore in a die body; and positioning a sleevemember in the bore, wherein the sleeve member has a first diameter and asecond diameter less than the first diameter, and wherein the cavity isconfigured to releasably contact a cartridge at least partially insertedinto the cavity for shaping at least a portion of the cartridge.
 23. Themethod of claim 22 wherein the bore is metallic and the sleeve member isnon-metallic.
 24. The method of claim 22 wherein the sleeve member iscomposed of a ceramic or synthetic material.
 25. The method of claim 22wherein forming the bore comprising molding or casting the bore, themethod further comprising molding or casting the sleeve member.